One of India's most successful spinners, Harbhajan Singh on Friday (December 24) announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
Having made his India debut in 1998, the 41-year-old played 103 Tests, 236 ODIs, and 28 T20Is. While the off-spinner claimed 417 wickets in red-ball cricket, he picked up 269 wickets and 25 scalps in ODIs and T20Is respectively.
Harbhajan, who made his India debut during an ODI against New Zealand at Sharjah in 1998, last played for the country in an Asia Cup 2016 match against UAE at Dhaka.
WATCH - Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli congratulate Harbhajan Singh on an illustrious career
In an exclusive chat with PTI, Harbhajan admitted that the timing of his retirement isn’t right and he should have made the announcement earlier.
“Well, I must admit that the timing isn't right. I am late and there are no two ways about it. Normally, I have been a very punctual person all my life, stickler for (being on) time. Perhaps, this is one time, when I have been late. It's just that while being on the road, I missed the timing. But trust me, I am punctual (smiles.),” he said.
When asked whether the Indian cricket was fair to him in the last few years, the Turbanator replied: “Look, life can always be looked at from two different prisms. If I see from where I started as a small town boy from Jalandhar with absolutely no idea about worldly matters to where I ended, I can only count my blessings and thank the almighty, thousand times over. Even then, it won't be enough to show how grateful I am because of cricket.”
“But then if I look at things from a different prism, may be a thought would cross my mind that I could have had a different end to my cricket career. It's always a case of "What If' in life, "Yun hota toh kya hota". But, then there's no point having regrets. What's the use in having regrets about what all happened five years back. Yes, I could have retired from the cricket ground, may be I could have retired earlier. But then, no regrets because when I look back, what I have got far outweighs what I didn't. No need to be bitter if I see where I started,” he further stated.
Harbhajan also commented on the 'MonkeyGate' scandal during the 2008 Sydney Test, involving him and Andrew Symonds.
“Obviously it was something that was uncalled for. Whatever happened during that day in Sydney shouldn’t have happened and also what it led to. It was really unnecessary. But forget about who said what. You and I both know truth has two sides,” he said.
“No one cared about my side of the truth in the whole episode. No one cared what I went through in those few weeks and how I was mentally sinking. I have never extensively given my side of the story but people will know about it in my upcoming autobiography. What I went through shouldn’t have happened to anyone,” he explained.
One of the highlights of Harbhajan’s international career was the 2001 Test series against Australia at home, in which he snapped 32 wickets from three matches, including the first hat-trick in the longest format by an Indian.
The offie was also an integral part of the Indian team across formats in the 2000s and was part of the sides that won the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup.
When asked to pick his favorite cricketing moment, Harbhajan said: “For every cricketer, you need that one performance after which people will sit up and take serious notice. 2001 versus Australia was my watershed moment. If 32 wickets and a hat-trick wouldn’t have happened against a team of that might, who would have spoken about me? I could well have ended being a footnote.”
“Australia series ne mera wajood banaya. Mera astitva ke saath juda hai. (It’s intrinsic to my identity). It proved that I won’t disappear after one or two series. It proved I belonged here.”
“Indian cricket was in a mess in 2000 after the match-fixing scandal. People had lost faith in the game. To bring them back to the stadium and make them fall in love with the game, you needed those 32 wickets or that 281 by VVS. It was a turnaround that Indian cricket needed. It was magical.”
In the end, Harbhajan Singh summed up his career as a roller-coaster journey.
“Great. It’s been a roller-coaster journey. Loads of ups and downs. But that’s how life is. Even sea waves have crests and troughs isn’t it? Very blessed to have played for India for so long. If you played 377 games for India, well that’s not a bad number.”
“What would have happened if I wouldn’t have been an India cricketer? Where would I have been and what would I have done with my life? Indian cricket gave me an identity. This is a forever debt and I will not be able to pay off. I am what I am because of he institution called Indian cricket.”
“When I look back and see the kind of greats that I have played with — Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni, Zaheer Khan. And last but not least, what a privilege it was to be Anil Kumble’s bowling partner. An absolute legend who taught me a lot.”
(With PTI inputs)
